Demon Within
by theColdAssassin
Summary: A supposedly enjoyable celebration in honor of the Fourth Hokage's bravery, interrupted by a number of nerve-wracking events made by the shinobi's involved. Exhausting love squabble, accidental ambush, and a few complain here and there. Will Umino Iruka's plans be fruitful as expected or will it end tragically? Multi-shots.


After three long years, I've finally been able to write and upload the story. I knew nothing about fanfictions when I first thought of this. So, I'm grateful with my friends who had helped me understand things related to such.

**Pen's Outburst **– Hiya! I was arguing with the other me on whether or not to upload this on your birthday. But, I guess the other me won this time HAHAHA :D She said that she already had plans for that special occasion. Anyway, I'm already preparing for the worst. Meaning, a handful from you. You've beta-ed this two or three years ago, right? And as far as I can remember, you were asking for the next chapter and not a revised version. Well, sorry dude :) I still don't know how to start with that HAHAHAHA But, I do hope you'll like this :)

**REMINDER**: To those who might want to criticize my work, I'm fine with that. Nobody's perfect, yes? And criticism would be a great thing to help me improve. But, I warn you and I'm dead serious, please do so in a humane way. I didn't use such a pen name for nothing :)

Do enjoy, everyone! :)

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto!

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The first breeze of spring brushed gently against Sakura's skin. She shifted, feeling the warmth of the air. Her rose pink hair swayed gracefully as it touched her almost emotionless face. Instinctively, she shoved a handful of her hair and held onto it. She then sighed and continued to look at the towering trees blankly. Lying over their bags below, on her right side, was Naruto. A rust-coated kunai was lazily clinging unto his right index finger. She noted that the look on his face was terrible. Dark circles rounded his bright, blue eyes. A Band-Aid had been laid across the bridge of his nose and was stained with the single hint of fresh blood. His mouth gaped open and he was unconsciously drooling. He was stupidly staring at the towering figure of the kunoichi in front of him. Sakura grimaced and twitched. She hated being stared at. Her jaws and fists clenched all together, wanting badly to smack the hell out of Naruto. Though somehow she can't, or rather, she doesn't want to draw any attention.

"Sakura-chan is so beautiful." Naruto murmured to himself. Truly, Sakura looked like a goddess at the way she stood. Confident, glowing with beauty, and radiating power. Although the look on her face contradicts all of it. Her face showed how tired she was. Bruise-colored bags were visible under her emerald orbs and like Naruto and the others, she also had little scars all over her body. Naruto made a bothered look. There was something strange at the way Sakura's eyes gleamed. Was it because of the damages she got from the mission the day before? Or was there another reason? Those lifeless orbs just emit a very questionable pain. Naruto swatted the thought away. He had suffered enough beating from yesterday's mission. He doesn't want another searing lump at the top of his blonde hair. He was about to say something really nice when a paper slapped him squarely at the face. "What the…?" he hissed. Sakura shuddered but didn't pay him any attention. Naruto stood, grabbing the paper with shaking hands, from his face. He didn't even bother trying to figure out what was written on it and threw it away directly in front of him. Cursing, he began stepping on it. "Stupid paper!" He was determined to tear the paper to pieces. Hell, it just ruined his moment with Sakura. The kunoichi, finally averting her attention to Naruto, raised her brows in question. She started feeling curious about the content of the paper. As the paper was almost torn in half, a fist landed on Naruto's head. "Ow!" Naruto bellowed and fell backwards on the pile of bags. Sakura then let out a sigh and stared at the person who hit Naruto with a 'what-was-that-for?' look.

Naruto's butt got stuck between the bags, making it hard for him to gain composure. Through his wriggling legs, he watched as the same hand that hit him reached for the tattered paper. The girl turned the paper, brushed it a little, and began reading. Her coal black hair was held up in a messy ponytail that flowed freely behind her. Her framing bangs covered the part of her face that was supposed to be visible to Naruto. "What's it say?" asked Sakura, who slowly crept next to the girl to get a clearer view.

The girl frowned and huffed. She tossed the paper to Sakura, making the pink haired ninja jolt back in surprise. "That paper's all over the village, I bet." her voice was calm but sent chills to both her companions. She turned to Naruto, her onyx eyes looked at him with mockery. Though Naruto didn't care, he doesn't take things like that from her as an insult. His heart was beating so fast that even stuttering became a hard thing to do. He kept quiet and settled on staring at the girl in front of him. It was a bit disgusting, falling for a girl who has the same face as his rival. Naruto wished that she'd just been born from a different family. But if that was the case, then maybe up until now he still haven't been able to at least talk to her. "Idiot." she said while smirking. Naruto's face turned into an ugly mask and he clenched his jaw hard. He always hated when she says that, it kept on reminding him of her twin.

At last, Naruto was able to get up. He dusted off his butt and turned to the girl. "Why did you do that, Sayuki-chan?" he pouted while scratching his head. "That really hurt."

"Don't be such a baby, Naruto." Sakura answered. The paper was now crumpled in her right hand. Since Naruto doesn't like being called a baby, he began arguing with Sakura. Although it was already clear to him that whatever it takes, he'll never win. Sayuki closed her eyes, a usual Uchiha thing, and left the beating to her friend. She trotted towards a big oaken tree that shaded the most part of their training ground. Within the shades, Sasuke sat. His eyes fierce and observant. His gaze followed her sister until the moment she sat beside him.

"What was that?" he mumbled with such a cold voice. His raven hair ruffled as another breeze came in.

Sayuki relaxed her back against the wood. "A flyer." she replied simply.

Sasuke sighed in annoyance. "About what?" he added as he turned to look at her dangerously.

"The play." Sayuki waited for Sasuke's reaction. That word had been considered a taboo for all of them since last week. Sasuke just kept quiet, creating an awkward silence between the two. "Hey, I…" Sayuki's attempt to break the silence was interrupted by a loud growl from Sakura. Sayuki looked her way with wide eyes, for indeed it was shocking. She noticed that Sasuke was also staring at the other kunoichi. Naruto looked the same way Sasuke and she looked, though he was terribly shaking. It might have been a terrifying sight for him.

Sakura was gasping for air. She could feel the eyes of her friends at her. She shouldn't have had acted that way. _'Damn! Stop it, Sakura. Stop thinking about it.' _She clenched her fists and her face began turning red. "D-Damn, Kakashi-sensei…!" she started. The other three tensed. "… Where is he? It's already past 7 o'clock." She breathed deep, she needed to make her friends think of something else. "'Be there at 5 AM sharp. Make sure no one gets late.' Yea, right, my ass!" she exclaimed, mimicking Kakashi's voice.

Naruto laughed nervously. "Y-You're really great at mimicking voices, Sakura-chan." Sakura eyed him and he stepped back in horror. _'Scary Sakura-chan.' _The twins just took a quick glance at each other.

'_Something's not right.' _Sayuki furrowed her brows as she focused on Sakura. Sakura's been quiet since they got here. If it was because she was still worn out from the last mission, Sayuki would've understood. That might've been a reason, but that wasn't enough. Every single time that their team meets up or even just the twins and Sakura, their teammate would always beam at them. She likes her brother, which had become a natural phenomenon. But today, she didn't even greet them or waved at them. Sasuke, on the other hand, had been cold to her since they came back. He didn't even bothered eating dinner last night, although she took out a whole bowl of tomatoes. And this morning, he was prepared to leave her behind. She turned to look at her brother. His eyes were definitely different. He was also starting to feel uneasy just by watching Sakura unleash her rage at Naruto. _'Yep. Something is wrong.'_

"Ah! Sakura-chan, where are you going?" Naruto suddenly yelled. His bright blue eyes followed the pink kunoichi as she went deeper within the forest. Sayuki stood up in alarm. She knew very well that Sakura was even more reckless than Naruto. With her heading in the forest alone she's going to be in big trouble. "Don't go alone, Sakura-chan! I'll come with you!" Naruto yelled once again, louder this time for Sakura's already too far. He jogged towards her and attempted to grab her by the arm, but immediately failed.

Sakura flashed him a toothy grin which was obviously fake, "No, thanks, Naruto. I won't go far anyway." Not letting Naruto to reply, she stomped away towards the darker side of the forest.

Naruto sweat-dropped and looked back over his left shoulder. "What now?" he asked, loud enough for the twins to hear.

Shaking her head, Sayuki turned to face her brother. She breathed deeply and placed her hands on her hips. She then leaned forward and raised her right eyebrow. "Well?"

Sasuke had closed his eyes, trying to ignore everything. His left leg was outstretched while his right was bent upward. His arms were crossed over his chest. He was breathing calmly, almost as if no tension had happened. When he heard his twin's voice, he deliberately cracked open his right eye. "Hn?" he asked casually.

"Do not give me that." Sayuki replied, the irritation in her voice was audible. She straightened as she heard Naruto's footsteps nearing them.

"What?" Sasuke's onyx eyes were now completely visible. He then reached over and ruffled his hair.

Sayuki darted her index finger at him. "Give me a minute." She turned her back at him; her hair flowed with each movement.

Naruto was busy mumbling to himself, kicking stones that blocked his way. His hands rested inside his pockets. The blonde felt terrible. Everyone was feeling awful. Sakura was so scary he had hoped he'd been on the hospital bed at that moment. Sayuki's been mean to him. Well, she always is. And Sasuke, the bastard doesn't even care at all. _'Hmm. What happened yesterday, anyway?' _He'd been the first person to get knocked out in their mission yesterday. Actually, there were two teams. Team Kakashi was assigned to help out on a B-rank mission that was given to Team Gai. The old hag Hokage clearly stated that it was a B-rank but undoubtedly, it was almost an S-rank. An organization of elite assassin groups was supposed to meet up within the forest that divided Konoha and Suna. Their predicted agenda was to kill both the Hokage and the Kazekage. Since the plan was just to spy on the meeting, Konoha sent the rookies. Although, when the members learned about them, they began attacking. Fortunately, they were able to put up a great fight. Honestly, the teamwork between Hyuuga Neji and the Uchiha twins was amazing. Kakashi and Gai's combination jutsu's were top rated. Of course, the other four didn't let those goody ninjas embrace all the glory. It was just surprisingly disappointing that Naruto lost his consciousness. He got punched from protecting Lee! When everything turned black, he was completely unaware of the next events. He'd decided that he'd interrogate the others after this little meeting.

"Oi, Naruto!" Sayuki yelled at him. She didn't look quite happy. Naruto glanced behind her and saw Sasuke staring at his sister. "Would you mind guarding our stuff? I just need to talk some sense into this guy." she said annoyingly, jerking her right thumb behind her.

Naruto huffed. "Fine, fine." He turned and walked away. "Some twin issues, sheesh!"

Sayuki smiled, the slightest movement of her lips. She then turned to Sasuke and continued, "What did you do to Sakura?"

Sasuke stood slowly. His bangs covering the most part of his face. When he looked up, his eyes were playful. "What do you mean?"

"Sasuke!" Sayuki cried.

"Nothing…" he snapped, then sighed. "… Well, I don't know."

Sayuki bit her lower lip and shut her eyes tightly. "You better talk to her."

"What?!" Sasuke asked in surprise. There was no way he'd go after her. _'Still...'_ He breathed deeply, "Fine. Just take the dope out of here. I don't want him thinking something stupid of this." Right that moment, the only thing that Sasuke wanted to do was to strangle his sister to death. He may have agreed on talking to Sakura for he felt that he did something wrong to her, but he isn't sure how to handle it. He's famous for not feeling sorry. Though somehow, something had changed at the way he viewed Sakura. He just doesn't have any clue on whatever the reason was.

Sayuki smirked victoriously. "Sure." She was right all along. Whatever's happening between Sakura and his brother, it sure is something to witness.

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Done. Reviews and violent reactions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

**WARNING**: I find it quite hard to write this story and I don't have any idea why. Well, I'd love to say that Chapter 2 will be uploaded soon but I'm still figuring out a way to make it happen. Oh, well. You guys, who are interested to find out the next events, might as well gather up some patience. And, I sincerely apologize.


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